. >> brown: open season in congress look >> brown: seven weeks after election day, there are open seats in congress. we look at contests in three senate races. >> ifill: fred de sam lazaro profiles a priest who became a doctor to help haiti's poor and orphaned children. >> brown: and we close with a conversation with the editor of a new anthology of verse: 100 poems written over 100 years. >> it doesn't have poetry. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: gunfire tore at the nation's holiday mood again today, with the emotional wounds from a school massacre still fres